New Staff at Phoenix High School

Mrs. Brody - new Assistant principal

New Staff 2015

October 2, 2015

By: Guillermina Rodriguez and Ariana Segura

 

As the school year rolled in students were introduced to new staff here at Phoenix High School; this year there are a total of twelve new staff members added to the pirate crew. We have a variety of new staff in different departments throughout the school.

 

In the math department we have Mr.Campagna teaching geometry and algebra II. This is his first year as a teacher, and he completed his student teaching at Bend High School. Before he started here at PHS he was in Argentina for six months teaching business, physics, math, and English. So far he says the school year is “going very well” and he feels that he is growing a stronger relationship with his students, “[learning] who each other are and having more and more fun and learning more and more math everyday.”

 

Also new to the math department, we have Ms.Flores. Not only is she a new math teacher here at Phoenix, she has a variety of different classes throughout the day ranging from Algebra, Leadership, and Health.

 

Mrs. Wright is our new Spanish teacher here at Phoenix. Before reaching PHS she went to school at SOU and received her MAT where she made lots of friends and fell in love with the area. She has taught abroad in Chile before, and when she came back to the states she knew she wanted to live in Southern Oregon. When she “visited Phoenix, Mrs. Hale was so ecstatic and happy”  to the point where she would even drag students out of class and ask them to tell her how great PHS is. “She was just so energetic, I had to work here.” Although this is her first year as a full time teacher, she wasn’t completely new to Phoenix, as she had been here for the fourth quarter last year. She said “it’s really nice to start fresh and from the actual beginning.” Towards the end of her interview we discovered that she is the advisor for the Harry Potter Club, and she would like “everyone to join the Harry Potter club!”

 

In the science department we have Mr. Sitowski who came from Southern California. He’s originally from the Eugene area and he wanted to come back to Oregon so he did. He informs us that, “the year is going great. I hope to get more organized throughout the year, and also just get better at what I do.”

 

New to the English department we have Ms. Bryan. She has experience teaching at Ashland High and Eagle Point Middle School. She went to school in California and Nevada and later on finished at SOU. She informs us that “the year is going well so far, I have so much to learn. I’m new here so even finding my way around the school was even a challenge, I kept getting lost.” Her goal is to be able to know a story of each student in my class by the end of the year, “so when I think of them I think of a story that they have not just a name and a face.”

 

Also, teaching English here at Phoenix is Mr. Roberts. He moved to the area three years ago and then came to the town of Phoenix a year ago. He didn’t originally plan on becoming a full time teacher but to just substitute for classes. But plans changed as he went up to a fair in Portland where he met our principal Jani Hale. That’s what brought him to interview for a position here at PHS. Before becoming a full time teacher, he had been a student teacher over at Talent the previous year. He says “I had a really good feel [for] the school. It’s a smaller school which is what I’m used to.” He also tells us that he has been in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru before and he also was living in Maui and worked as a program director of a Boys and Girls Club for two years. At the end of his interview he told us that his “hope [is that his] students learn not only academics but something that will benefit them in the future.”

 

New to the Music Department we have Mrs. Nordquist who also teaches choir at South Medford in the afternoon. Outside of music she is also in charge of the Rogue Valley Youth ensemble. She used to live in Kansas and taught kindergarten through 12th grade there. She informs us that, “Phoenix High School is where [her]  husband came to school, and his family is from this area, so we moved back home to take care of his parents.” Towards the end of her interview she also tells us that, “this year is going so great we have wonderful students here at PHS that are singing well and are trying their best. We are hoping to build our choir program even bigger.”

 

Mrs. Hawksley is the new study skills teacher. She graduated from Ashland High School and later on worked for the Ashland School District. Then she went on to work in the Medford District for a year and later went to the Eagle Point School District. Now she works here at Phoenix High School. She tells us that “this year is going great! I’m looking forward to graduation and meeting many more students.”

Another new staff member we have this year at Phoenix is Mr. Schauffler who teaches a variety of different physical education classes.

Not only did we get new teachers but we also have new staff over in the office. As office manager, we have Mrs. Silva she has lived in California where she went to Huntington Park High School. Before coming to PHS, she worked at Amy’s for about four years as a coordinator. She told us that, “the year is going [well]. There’s a lot of learning involved but I am looking forward to the best.”

Mrs.Brody is our new assistant principal here at PHS. She worked at Phoenix Elementary School before PHS and received her Doctorate in Education at the University of Oregon and got her Masters of Education at SOU. She also went to Penn State first to receive her Bachelors in Science and actually grew up in central Pennsylvania. In the process of moving to Oregon, Mrs. Brody and her roommate came over by land and had a fun road trip on the way. She tells us that she “loves the outdoors” and Oregon seemed like a good match for a new home. She also says, “This year I think is just really exciting. We have great teachers here and we have wonderful students here too. I think we are going to have a lot of fun and we are going to work on things that are meaningful for you guys to get closer to graduation and what comes after.”

New to the attendance office we have Mrs. Gutridge who used to work at JC Penny as a manager in different departments. She also told us that her sons are students here at Phoenix High School. She tells us that the school year is going well so far and hopes to get more familiar with her job as the year goes along.

Welcome to Phoenix High School new staff members and we hope you have an amazing year

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